Jack Vance Treasury eBook

Nebula and World Fantasy Grand Master Jack Vance is one of the most admired and cherished writers of science fiction and fantasy in the world, and is one of the truly important and influential storytellers of the 20th century.

From his first published story "The World Thinker" in 1945 to his final novel Lurulu in 2004, Vance has shown an astonishing range of inventiveness, versatility and sheer storytelling power, as well as a gift for language and world-building second to none. Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy and Edgar awards, his acclaimed first book The Dying Earth and its sequels helped shape the face of modern heroic fantasy for generations of readers -- and writers! In more than sixty novels, he has done more than any other author to define science fantasy and its preeminent form: the planetary adventure.

Born in San Francisco in 1916, Vance wrote much of what you'll find between these covers both abroad and at home in the hills above Oakland, either while serving in the merchant marine or traveling the world with his wife Norma, all the while pursuing his great love of fine cuisine and traditional jazz.

Now, at last, the very best of Vance's mid-length and shorter work has been collected in a single landmark volume. With a Preface by Vance himself and a foreword by long-time Vance reader George R.R. Martin, it stands as the capstone to a splendid career and makes the perfect introduction to a very special writer.

The final table of contents, over 225,000 words in length:

• Preface, Jack Vance
• Jack Vance: An Appreciation, George R.R. Martin
• Introduction: Fruit from the Tree of Life
• The Dragon Masters
• Liane the Wayfarer
• Sail 25
• The Gift of Gab
• The Miracle Workers
• Guyal of Sfere
• Noise
• The Kokod Warriors
• The Overworld
• The Men Return
• The Sorcerer Pharesm
• The New Prime
• The Secret
• The Moon Moth
• The Bagful of Dreams
• The Mitr
• Morreion
• The Last Castle
• Biographical Sketch & Other Facts, Jack Vance

From Publishers Weekly:
"Encompassing multiple permutations of the planetary romance genre, this best-of collection gathers 18 seminal if sometimes redundant stories and novellas, dating from the 1950s to the 1970s, from SF Grand Master... Vance's stylistic bravado and lush, baroque prose create compelling worlds that blur the line between fantasy and far-flung future-world SF. Vance has won Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy and Edgar awards."

From Booklist:
"Now in the twilight of a career spanning back to the 1940s, Vance is a legend among his colleagues, many of whom look to the Grandmaster's works for invaluable tips on literary style and character development. Here, editors Dowling and Strahan offer the commendable results of poring through Vance's prodigious oeuvre and selecting stories to showcase his best work and feature some of his most cherished recurring protagonists… With an introduction by George Martin and insightful afterwords to each piece by Vance himself, this is a celebration for his fans, an ideal introduction for new readers of his work."

From SF Site:
"All taken in all, this is a first-rate selection of a grandmaster in all the disparate moods and periods of his sixty-year career. And it comes with a bonus: the texts are not from the original printings in long-vanished pulp magazines; instead, they are taken from that grand and unprecedented effort by hundreds of volunteer Vancephiles on at least three continents, the Vance Integral Edition, which painstakingly restored his entire oeuvre. The VIE produced a definitive shelf of volumes that preserve this unique author's original vision -- before editors of varying abilities and tastes cut and altered them, often merely to fit the limited space of a magazine. Thus, true Vancephiles as well those fortunate enough to be discovering him for the first time, can read the works as they were meant to be read.

"The word 'treasury' in the title is well chosen. Here be treasures."